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León

A native of Mexico and a longtime chronicler of U.S. politics, immigration, and the lives of Angelenos, León is a frequent contributor to The New Yorker, The Daily Beast and KCRW’s “Left Right and Center.” He also writes a weekly column for Mexico’s El Universal. His 2005 book, “La Casa Dividida,” covered the first five years of the George W. Bush presidency.

Krauze’s current project, a collection of on-the-street interviews of Hispanic residents in Los Angeles titled “La Mesa,” has been broadcast by Univision and curated in Krauze’s latest book, of the same name. He describes the work as a portrait of what it’s like to be Hispanic in Southern California in 2016.

The project has become the inspiration for new USC Annenberg student-generated work. As part of his focus as Wallis Annenberg Chair, Krauze will lead students in the reporting and writing of similarly styled interviews. He aims to help students embed with Los Angeles families, of all ethnicities, for two months, and to guide and mentor them as they produce documentary videos and text stories.

Krauze serves as the main anchor at Univision’s KMEX station in Los Angeles, and has extensive broadcast experience — including anchoring the flagship newscast for Foro TV, Televisa’s 24/7 network. He was the longtime host of “Segunda Emisión,” Mexico’s highest-rated afternoon radio news magazine.

Besides his work at Univision, he’s also a regular at Fusion, where he hosted the show “Open Source.” He has won six Emmys, two Golden Mics, an Edward R. Murrow award and a Southern California Journalism Award from the Los Angeles Press Club. GQ Magazine named Krauze Mexico’s Journalist of the Year in 2011.

Krauze has a deep love of U.S. politics, and said he’s been a junkie since he was a teenager, watching Vice President Al Gore and Ross Perot debate NAFTA on Larry King. That passion steered his career toward American politics; now he has interviews with President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders logged in his most recent journalism credits. He’s been published in The Washington Post, Foreign Affairs, The New Republic, Foreign Policy, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, El Pais, Letras Libres, and many others. His weekly podcast, “Epicentro,” can be heard at dixo.com.

Besides his journalism career, he’s written two books on the history of soccer and also is a successful novelist of fantasy fare and children’s literature.